


Gravity

by opalescentgold



Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Celestial Body Metaphors, Fluff, M/M, POV Outsider, Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 11:45:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11440188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/opalescentgold/pseuds/opalescentgold
Summary: Although he doesn't show it, M is worried after Mansfield is put to rest. No one is ready to handle a rogue Double-Oh, much less a grieving and unstable 007.To his surprise, it never becomes a problem.





	Gravity

**Author's Note:**

> _For the General Prompt Table 010: For the greater good._

Mallory knows that they got lucky.

After the previous M died, 007 was, quite frankly, a rogue missile, a weapon without a safety. Much as he might have argued with her and tugged against the reins every once in awhile, Olivia Mansfield was his undisputed leader and guider.

Where she pointed, he went. When she ordered, he shot. When she died, he was left without a viable anchor. They didn’t have anyone suitable or capable of handling him, and for quite a while, Mallory was afraid he would have to resort to unsavory measures.

Oh, he never doubted Bond’s loyalty to England. Never that, but loyalty on its own isn’t all that useful, and loyalty in the hands of a Double-Oh agent without a keeper is akin to a bomb.

He isn’t in the business of kidding himself. While, perhaps, Bond respects him for the bullet he took and his assistance during the Skyfall affair, he won’t ever match up to Mansfield in Bond’s eyes.

And so, there they were, MI6 in complete turmoil, Mallory suddenly M, the new Quartermaster barely two weeks into his reign, and their enemies all set to knock on their doors. Bond wasn’t the only agent to watch M with silent insubordination in his eyes either. The other Double-Ohs smiled at him like piranhas, and even the regular agents milled about nervously.

If he hadn’t had prior experience in the field, M would probably have quit right then and there. But he was ready for a show of force - not happy about it, no, but ready - when abruptly, surprisingly, Bond came to heel, and with him, the Double-Oh program, which calmed the rest of the agents down.

For the longest time, Mallory didn’t understand, although he gladly accepted 007’s service. It isn’t until Moneypenny, smiling that sly, little, knowing smile of hers and an impish light in her eyes that call to mind her years as an agent just as destructive as any other, tells him one day that Bond and Q are dating that he gets a clue.

M wanders down to Q-Branch that very day after lunch, ignoring the way Eve is obviously laughing at him from behind the cover of her hand. It’s, as always, a chaotic mess, one that appears to freeze in time as soon as the boffins notice he’s standing in their doorway.

Q walks up to him, steps brisk. When he politely inquires what M is doing here, he claims he’s here for a routine check-up only and that everything’s perfectly fine. The slight tilt of Q’s chin says he doesn’t believe him for a second - more time working in espionage will no doubt get rid of those little tells soon enough - but he acquiesces gracefully and returns to his laptop.

M searches the room and finds Bond leaning against the wall in a dark corner. He receives a smirk and a halfway respectable nod. Not a fool, M returns the gesture and leaves before the frightened boffins can stop working altogether.

From there, the reports come pouring in. Moneypenny - the best decision he’s made since becoming M, to be honest - whispers the most relevant and important gossip in his ear: Bond came in with Q this morning, at the same time; Bond sold his flat; Bond hasn’t terrified a boffin into spilling their tea on themselves in three weeks.

Tanner, a solid, reliable man who Mallory rather likes, comes in with mission reports and communication transcripts that he presents with a slight blush and an exasperated sigh. The unprofessional flirting and blatant innuendos on paper give M headaches on the best of days and speak for themselves.

But - and this is important - Bond _listens_ to Q. He might not always follow Q’s orders, but he listens when Q offers information and advice, and certainly, the possibility of 007 following Q’s orders is higher than him following everyone else’s combined. He’s gone dark less often, gone off grid even less, and hasn’t gone off the rails yet.

His routine physical evaluation lands on Mallory’s desk soon after. Phenomenal for a man of Bond’s age, with his previous injuries and track records. A miraculous improvement over the poor shape he was in before the Silva issue.

Still, it’s only when 007’s psychological evaluation is given to him that M finally understands. Bond is more stable than he’s been in years, since _Vesper_ , and although he clearly played fiendishly with the shrinks, no one has been driven to tears for the first time in ages, and they're all even more clearly bewildered about it.

It appears that Bond, aimless as he was, found himself a new planet to orbit around. Q is his anchor, his gravity, however much he seems hesitant to admit it. And for the greater good, it had best stay that way.

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is [here](https://opalescentgold.tumblr.com/). Please leave a review!


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